


Better Times

by Moondusted



Category: Undertale
Genre: #firstpost, Angry Sans, Basically Mother Paps, Brother Paps, But hopefully it's still good so please don't kill me, But please if you get triggered by depression and suicidal thoughts and self harm don't read, Canonical Character Death, Chara really needs a hug, F/F, Frisk Needs A Hug, I hope, I swear this does end well, Implied/Referenced Suicide attempt, Influenced by Paring by Rivethart, Mother Toriel, Murder Chara (In a good way), Nice Chara, OH BY THE WAY, Other, Please Don't Hate Me, Sad Frisk, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Slightly psychotic Chara, Some fluff hopefully, Suicidal Thoughts, This is basically a vent fanfic with much depression, brother sans, mild swearing, much angst, ok i'll stop tagging now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2019-06-25 15:44:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 17,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15643863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moondusted/pseuds/Moondusted
Summary: If only you could go back in time and erase your mistakes as easily as you can make them.But you can never fully go back to those better times…Extremely depressed Frisk finds friends in the skelebros, does family things, and is best friends with a Ghost. Basically, lots of family angst and drama.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoy! This is the first thing I've written in a long time, so hopefully it's still decent! This was heavily inspired by Paring, written by Rivethart!! https://archiveofourown.org/works/8835391/chapters/20257873  
> TW-Referenced Suicide Attempt, Self Harm.

_**If only you could go back in time and erase your mistakes as easily as you can make them.** _

_**But you can never fully go back to those better times…** _

 

You stood, wind whipping your hair, the border glowing and casting a freaky light on the flower in front of you. You finally had control for the first time in awhile. Chara apparently didn’t want to kill Flowey. She had retreated to the back of your mind, completely silent.

Staring down at the flower in front of you, you felt a flash of anger. After all this, after killing every single one of your friends over and over again, she wouldn’t kill a stupid flower? In a fit of anger and betrayal, your blade flashed towards Flowey.

You stopped, sickened with yourself as the he crumpled slightly and stared up at you with terrified puppy eyes, realization dawning in his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, to beg, but Chara forced her way back into your body and lashed out again and again, reducing the flower to a pile of dust. She floated out of your body and collapsed next to the flower, ghostly tears falling down her face and fading away before they could hit the floor. You stayed there for almost half an hour, both of you crying your hearts out. Eventually, Chara wiped her face off, repossessed you, and hit RESET.

You lay where you had fallen for the hundredth time, not bothering to sit up and brush the dirt off or even open your eyes to the familiar scene. You laid there, perfectly silent, thinking about the past several runs. Eventually you sat up, blinking and rubbing your eyes to get the grains of dirt and sand out of them. A few yellow flower petals fluttered down off your back as you drew your knees to your chest and hugged them, not bothering to stand up and get out of the flower patch you had jumped down into yet again.  
“Chara?” You asked the empty room, looking around when there was no response. “We finally got past Asgore. We almost escaped. Isn’t that why we… killed everyone?” You asked, pausing as your voice cracked.

When you didn’t get a response, you sighed and flopped back down on the patch of yellow flowers, uncaring about getting your sweater dirty. It was probably already filthy, anyways. It was surprisingly comfortable, lying there on the flowers, and you didn’t want to move. You had time to rest before you had to go face the Underground again, didn’t you? Before you had to retreat to the back of your mind as the ghost killed everyone you love and care about?

You didn’t even twitch at the familiar sensation of a ghost phasing through you, although you opened your eyes. Chara floated up from their grave and looked around the dark cave. The dim sunlight flickering down from the ceiling didn’t even light up the edges of the room, but it was enough to help the flowers grow, even if you couldn’t see anything that was more than a few feet away from the patch. She floated down next to you, lying on her back as well.

Even though the ghost had just murdered everyone you loved in every possible way, you still considered her your friend. To everyone else, she was a cold, heartless demon. But to you, she was surprisingly human.

The first several times, she could barely resist playing Papyrus’s puzzles, joking with Sans. One run she gave up before killing Papyrus, sparing him and RESETing. All she wanted to do was help you get out, get back to your family. She would stand in the dust of your friends and cry right along with you for the first several genocide runs. You both kind of went numb after awhile, knowing that just RESETing would bring them all back. The last couple of runs were a haze, you almost couldn’t remember them. You finally defeated Sans and killed Asgore last run. You could have walked out of the barrier and gone home if the ghost hadn’t reset.

“I… I don’t know. I didn’t… I couldn’t…” The ghost seemed lost for words and just went silent, staring at the beams of sunlight that were so rare down here.

“Couldn’t live with killing them all?” You asked, looking at Chara. Memories flooded both of you, memories of killing everyone over and over again, their dust falling to the floor around you. “I know.”

“I’m sorry. I thought then it would be easier… and we finally killed him. That’s the closest we’ve gotten to getting out. But I couldn’t… I’m so sorry, Frisk.”

“It’s ok, Chara. We both learned a lot from those runs, and now we just have to find a better way out. I promised Sans that first run, remember? I promised to get everyone out of here.” You sighed, rolling over onto your side so you could fully see the other girl. A flower petal got stuck in your hair, but you didn’t care. “I just don’t know if there’s a way out… without killing everyone.”

Chara did the same, flipping onto her side to face you. “We don’t have to go on, we could just stay with M-Toriel.”

“We tried that before, remember? She started giving us snail pie. I’m not making that mistake again. That was gross.” You both grimaced at the memory, but you could feel the tension lighten slightly. “Besides, we’d be bothering her. I’d just remind her of you and Asriel.” you added in a whisper.

“Ok, fine. I don’t really want to try that again either. Maybe Papyrus would let us stay with him? He offered before.” Chara said, not catching the end of your statement.

“I think Sans might remember something from the RESETs. He started acting really weird around us after the first few Genocide runs. What if he kills us in our sleep to protect his brother? They wouldn’t want me to stay with them, anyways. I’d just cost them money and make them upset.” You said, before changing the subject. “Besides, aren’t you supposed to be an emotionless demon?” You asked, lightly teasing the ghost girl. “Why do you want to stay here? I thought you hated monsters.”

“I just thought maybe… Hey! That’s not fair. I love **most** monsters! Why do you want to leave? There’s nothing for you up there. That’s why you jumped, right? Because nobody wanted you up there. But Monsters are MADE of love and compassion! You’d be happy and safe down here. Why don’t you want to stay?”

“I don’t want to bother anyone. There’s few enough resources down here, I’d just take up more of them. Besides, I need to get everyone out. So they can see the stars and the sun again. I said I would! That’s all they’ve ever dreamed for, right? And we can give it to them!”

“I’m just saying, they’d love to have you down here. Especially Sans and Papyrus and Toriel.” Chara said, stretching and floating up to hover next to the edge of the semi-circle of light. “Let’s get going, or Mom’ll come get us here. We have to go meet up with my psychopath brother.” She tried to seem nonchalant, but you could hear her voice crack slightly.

“Alright, alright.” You said, standing up and stretching before walking into the solid wall of darkness. Chara faded out and slowly appeared in the back of your mind. _A bit left, you’re about to run into the wall._ She said, guiding you through the darkness by memory. You had died several times just trying to walk through this darkness, something neither of you wanted to relive. That’s how you found out about your ability to LOAD, actually.

 

You panted as you dodged the final wave of Toriel’s flames, almost tripping on a crack in the floor. You hit SPARE one final time, watching as Toriel begins crying and begins her speech. You tuned out the rest of her monolouge. You’d heard it all a hundred times, and you could probably quote the entire thing, as well as several other speeches throughout the underground. She bent down, giving you a tear-filled hug and telling you to never come back. Those words cut deeply, the wall you had built up against them had decayed during the Genocide runs. You shook it off and walked out the door, silently wiping away the tear that fell down your face. You walked down the long path and started down the path to Flowey. At least you finally had the knife from Toriel’s kitchen tucked into your boot, where it belonged.

“Are you playing some sick game, Chara? Becoming their friend, and then stabbing them in the back when they least expect it? Turning all of these worthless Monsters to dust? Killing them over and over again in your twisted game?” Chara flinched in your mind, retreating deeper. “I thought we were friends, playmates. But you killed me.”

You quickly stepped over the flower and out the second door, shutting it behind you. “No more killing, right? We’re finding a better way out?” You whispered as soon as the door finished shutting, oblivious to the camera hiding in the bushes. You had assumed during your talk on the flowers that she wanted to find a peaceful way out, but you had to make sure. Flowey’s words had shaken you.

_No. No more killing._ _I just hope there’s a peaceful way to escape without killing them._ The ghost replied in the back of your mind.


	2. Snowdin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk meets a seriously pissed off Sans. TW for Self Harm and Self Hate again, sorry guys!

_Here comes th_ _at giant branch_ _. I still don’t know how Sans shatters it. We never even see him behind us!_

“Hmm… I actually never thought about that.” You replied, glancing over your shoulder as you climbed over the stick. You kept walking, barely flinching when it shattered. “Did you see him?”

 _No…_ _weird._

“Yeah.” You whispered as you arrived at the bridge. The familiar sound of footsteps crunching through the snow washes over you, but you refuse to turn around. You need another few seconds to collect yourself. After all, just recently, you murdered him.

“hey kid.” Wait… was that off script? You spun around to see Sans standing there, eye glowing with blue fire. He had his hands in his pockets and a lazy grin on his face. The skeleton seemed so tall, even though he was only a few inches taller than you. What. The. Heck?

 _Frisk… I don’t like this. Maybe we should run. If he remembers, he knows we killed his brother. What if he kills us here?_ Chara was shifting anxiously in the back of your mind, staring at the skeleton. _I don’t want to_ _fight M-… Toriel_ _again._ _There isn’t a save point for a while up ahead… I don’t think we can run that far._

You anxiously shifted, taking a small step towards the bridge. Your HP was still low from the battle with Toriel, you were expecting to heal at the SAVE point so you hadn’t eaten anything healing.

A blue glow enveloped you as you took another step back. Heart pounding, you watch as a huge, blue Gaster Blaster appears near Sans’s head, facing towards you. It’s giant, sharp teeth were rim-lit by the blue glow building up in the back of it’s mouth. _**Uuuummm… Chara?!**_ _ **I’d**_ _ **bet**_ _ **he remembers,**_ _ **w**_ _ **hat do we do?!**_ You thought frantically to the ghost. Your head ached, just like it always did when you tried to communicate with the ghost in your head. _Just wait until the blue glow wears off, he could never keep it going for long, remember? You can do this._ She said.

“You don’t have any EXP…” Sans said, looking at your stats. “So. Decided not to kill anyone this time? Or are you trying something new, Demon?” He asked, glaring at you as the blue fire around his eye flickered dangerously. You didn’t answer, waiting for the blue glow to fade away. The second you could move again, you took off running and managed to make it into the woods on the side of the path.

You didn’t want to try and run down the path towards the save points, it was way too far in the open. The woods would give you enough cover to let you hide until Sans gave up. You heard him curse behind you, and a flurry of bones punched into the woods around you. You threw yourself onto the ground and rolled behind a tree, climbing up into the branches. You got coated in snow from branches higher up, but you were hidden.

_How are we supposed to rescue everyone with him chasing us? How are we going to make it to Waterfall?_

“I… I don’t know! We need to make it to the SAVE point somehow, so we don’t have to fight Toriel again. And even if we do make it past her, won’t he just kill us the next time we come though?” You whispered. You glanced upwards as the magic that controls day and night in the Underground started to dim the caves. “Guess we’re sleeping up here tonight, though.”

You shifted around, trying to make yourself comfortable. Your thick sweater kept you from being cold, which you counted as a blessing as you tried to find a comfortable spot on the tree. You finally found a place where you could sit and lean back on the trunk without a stick digging into your back.

You were tired enough that you were sure you could fall asleep sitting there, your feet dangling down. _I hope we can make it though the night, it’s really cold. The sweater might not keep us warm enough._

“We’ll be fine, Chara.”

Chara quickly fell asleep, but as you attempted to follow, your mind whirled into it’s nightly pit of dispair.

 **Toriel didn’t want you because you’re a screw-up. Nobody really loves you. You’re worthless. Why do you even try? Sans hates you. It would be better if you were dead.** **If** **the RESETs would stop. Sans would be happier if you were dead. A** **l** **l you do is make people unhappy. Nobody wants you around. You’re a worthless, useless idiot.** **You’ll never be able to free them all, why are you even trying? You’re so stupid, how do you actually believe you can help all of these monsters?** **You should let Sans kill you.**

You pulled the knife out of your boot and pull it up to face level, and the words quiet a bit. The knife was made of a single sheet of stainless steel, with little grooves dug into the handle for your fingers. The handle was filled with tiny holes, most likely to make it lighter. It was slightly dull, but still sharp enough to cut your skin. You brought the knife to your right arm and sliced into your arm a few inches above your elbow. You watched the blood bead up and turn into a stream, dripping down onto the snow below the tree. The words were almost silent now, barely echoing around in your mind.

 **Worthless… useless… it would be better if you were dead.** You made one more cut, a slightly deeper, more ragged one. You watched as the blood welled up and trailed down your arm like a river of liquid ruby. There were a few cuts on this arm from the surface, but most were on your other arm. The cuts didn’t survive RESETs, but you could always make new ones.

You pulled the bandage out from your inventory, the one you had been wearing when you fell. It was clean and mostly dry, Toriel washed it for you while you were at her house. It was one of those fabric ones that wrapped around your arm and attached to itself.

You carefully wiped up the blood and wrapped it around your arm. The blood made lines on the bandage, spreading quickly through the cloth. After you were sure that the blood wouldn’t seep through onto your sweater, you let your sleeve drop and hide the bandage. Leaning your head back, you fell asleep.


	3. Captured!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Frisk is captured by The Great Papyrus! Undyne and Sans enter here as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going to be a rush of chapters for a little while here, but after I'm done with this I'm planning on updating every Saturday and Sunday. Enjoy! TW for Self Harm and Self Hate! Love you guys~

You jerked awake, Chara flooding your SOUL with pure panic. Something surrounding you resisted your panicked jump, and you realized you could barely move.

Your eyes blinked open, and you looked down. Everything from your neck down was burrito-ed in a large, black, fluffy blanket, and you were lying in a surprisingly comfortable dog bed. Chara drifted out of your mind, through the blankets, to float near the ceiling. “Finally! Papyrus found us in the tree and carried us here HOURS ago!” The ghost whined. “We have to get out of the ‘Capture Zone’ before Sans and Undyne get here!” She couldn’t interact with anything physical, other than you, so she helped you stand up before drifting back inside of your SOUL. The blanket was slightly loosened, and with around five minutes of wiggling you managed to free one of your arms. You used it to unwrap the rest of the blanket and sat back down, exhausted from struggling to escape the blanket. You were so tired… surely you could sleep for just a few minutes before Undyne got there…

_No! We at least need to get to the SAVE point, what if Sans shows up here and-_

“It’ll be fine.” You cut her off. “Let me at least sleep for five minutes? Then we can walk out and face Papyrus.”

 _Fiiiiine, but only if you let me do the Papyrus fight. I never got to actually fight him, and it looks really fun!_ The ghost whined.

“Hmm… I wonder why you never got to actually fight him? Maybe it’s because you murdered him before he had the chance to fight back? But alright, I guess you should get a turn.”

_Thanks! If I get it first time you owe me chocolate, you took two tries._

“Deal.” You asked, curling up. You saw a note sitting just outside the dog bed, and you read it from your comfortable sleeping position.

HELLO HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE CAPTURED YOU! DO NOT BE ALARMED! UNDYNE WILL BE HERE SOON TO TAKE YOU TO THE KING! I AM SURE HE WILL LET YOU GO HOME, HE WILL PROBABLY GUIDE YOU STRAIGHT TO THE BARRIER HIMSELF! PLEASE ENJOY YOUR ACCOMMODATIONS! FOOD AND REFRESHMENTS WERE PROVIDED!

Looking around for this “Food and Refreshments”, all you saw was a bowl of dog food and a bowl of water. With a disappointed sigh, you laid back down and fell asleep.

You jolted awake, Chara yet again poking you, filling you with fear. You were still in the dog bed, with the blanket around you, but you were lit up by a cyan glow. You sat up quickly, looking around. A cage of spears surrounded you, and you yelled in shock.

 _UNDYNE’S HERE! She got here less than a minute after you fell asleep!_ Chara said, sounding panicked.

 _ **How did she get here so fast? She’s never come to get us before, even when we stayed the entire night!**_ You thought, just as panicked as Chara. _**We didn’t SAVE!**_

 _We DID stay the entire night! It’s already nine in the morning!_ Chara said.

 _ **What do we do?!**_ You practically yelled to her.

 _I don’t know! If we’re lucky she’ll just take us to Asgore, and we can hit a save point along the way._ Chara said, forcing you to look at the fish lady standing just outside the cage, behind the wooden bars Papyrus had put up, staring at you. You jumped out from under the blanket and dragged it with you as you half crawled, half scrambled to the back of the spear-cage.

“H-help...” You whispered, hoping it was loud enough for Undyne to hear. Maybe she’d go easy on you if she knew you were just a weak, innocent kid? You glanced over next to her, and on her right side was a skeleton. A certain skeleton wearing a blue hoodie. Your heart stopped, knowing that there was absolutely no hope. “Shit” you whispered under your breath to Chara, who laughed. The skeleton would never go easy on you. What would Sans do? He probably realized that killing you would just make you come back, so how would he deal with you so that you couldn’t hurt his brother?

“Heya, kiddo. Why’d you run off earlier? I just wanted to have a _heart to heart._ ”

“Yeah, punk! You can’t escape the Royal Guard! I thought humans were supposed to be huge and dangerous, not wimpy.” Undyne said, glaring at you. You stammered, too scared to make an actual reply. You pulled the blanket around yourself, hoping against hope that Undyne would let you go or provide some sort of escape chance. Dying again would mean going through the Toriel fight again, which terrified you.

 _Now I don’t get my chance to fight Papyrus!_ Chara whined.

“That’s what you’re worried about right now?” You whispered to her.

_What else am I supposed to worry about? I wanted my chocolate! Everything will be fine. It’s not like we can die. We’ll just LOAD and it’ll be fine. We might have to re-fight Toriel, but then we can be more careful. We’ll just avoid Sans altogether, stay in the woods. I bet I could carry you over the little canyon._

“I guess...” You whispered.

“Hmm? What do ya guess?” Sans asked. You jerked your head up, suddenly seeing him standing directly in front of you. You panicked, stammered something incoherent, and Sans laughed. “Let me take the kiddo to Asgore, Undyne. I bet I can handle this babybones.”

“What if the punk turns out to be a dangerous human?” Undyne asked, glaring at you. “They could kill you!”

“This kid? They’re nothin but skin and _bones._ They couldn’t take any _skin_ off me. I can handle myself.” Sans said, shooting her a wink.

“Hmph… Fine. Lose them and I’ll make _sure_ Asgore punishes you this time. I want Paps to get the credit, he caught this wimp. I’m going to make sure he gets into the Royal Guard, even if he was a little too nice. I guess I underestimated him after all...” She said, glaring at the blanket.

“Undyne, you’re making me blush.” Sans said as Undyne stalked away. “So. Kiddo.”

“Sans.” You said, your voice trembling against your attempt to stay calm.

_Calm down, it’ll be okay. The worst thing that can happen is that we have to RESET. We have the knife, so we can always LOAD as well._

You had forgotten about the knife, but now you could feel it’s reassuring coldness against your side, where you had tucked it into the band of your shorts.

“So, demon. What’s your game this time? Wouldn’t want you to get bored, after all.”

_Let me take control, I can do this. I faced him down in the_ _Judgement_ _Hall, remember?_

“No way! You’re the ‘demon’, remember?” You whispered, surely too quiet for the skeleton to hear. He had moved back to the other side of the room after Undyne left and her spears collapsed.

“Who’s the demon?” Sans asked, tilting his head. Some of the anger left his eye-lights, replaced by curiosity.

_Crap! Why’d you say that out loud, Frisk?_

“U-um… n-n-nobody...” You said, shaking nervously. You pulled the blanket around yourself like it was the best protective armor in the Underground.

_What do we do Frisk? Maybe we should RESET?_

_**I’d rather LOAD, then we have less to do.**_ You said, your head already aching and making you dizzy.

 _Whatever you want to do, just DO IT ALREADY!_ Chara ended with a yell as Sans took a few steps forward.

“Kiddo?” He asked, looking at you. His eyelights had softened slightly, and a smudge of concern joined the mix of emotions.You barely saw it through your panic, and you knew you had to do something or you were going to completely panic and say something you’d regret.

You wiggled a bit under the blanket, and Sans’ face hardened. You pulled your knife from your boot and with a quick wave had your soul in front of you. San’s face melted into pure confusion, staring at your soul. “wha-” He started, before you quickly pulled the knife out of the blankets and jabbed it towards your soul. Seconds before the knife made contact, it vanished. Your fist continued towards your soul, smacking into it and only doing one damage.

“Trying to escape, kiddo? I just want to talk.” Sans said, the concern leaving his eyes.

 _ **Chara, what do I dooooo???!!!**_ You cried out to the spirit, begging for help.

_I don’t know! You can let me talk, or you can RESET. That’s the only way you’re getting out of this._

_**Oh, so you can get us both killed? You’re the demon that killed his brother, remember? What if he recognizes you? He saw you enough times during the battle in the Judgement hall!** _

_I don’t know! You aren’t doing anything!! You have to do something!_

Sans teleported, standing directly in front of you. You’d been quiet, making too many strange expressions. His eyelights were back, mostly cold hate, but concern managed to slip back in. Chara saw this, and tried to poke your brain towards it, but you were in full on panic mode. You thew yourself up off the floor and shoved past him, throwing the blanket as you ran past. It covered his head and hands as he fell onto the floor, not doing any damage, luckily.


	4. Run!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Panicked Frisk slips up again, frantically running from Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger for Self Harm! It is in detail this chapter, sorry! I swear it will become actually semi-decent later, I'm so sorry! When I get past my pre-written chapters, my writing should begin to improve a little! Again, so sorry guys! Thank you so much for reading!

You sprinted out the door and practically threw yourself onto the SAVE point. You touched it and darted into the inn, rushing in and out through the backdoor, ignoring the Innkeeper Bunny’s gasp. You were in the ally behind the stores, and had absolutely no idea where to run.

 _Hey, at least we managed to SAVE! GO LEFT!!_ Chara shouted, directing you through the alleyway.

You could FEEL the magic crackling from the Inn as you looked around. You dove left, sprinting down the path towards the ice-wolf just as Sans burst out the backdoor among yells from the Innkeeper Bunny. You felt him teleport behind you and a wave of blue magic swept past you, barely missing. You screamed, fear making you sprint even faster. You realized you couldn’t outrun his teleportation skills and spun back around, slipping under his outstretched arm. You barely dodged his grasping fingers and flinched as you ran full-force through the blue bone wall he threw in front of you. It hurt and slowed you down a bit, but didn’t do much damage. You flew into the transporter igloo and got blasted by the magic that pushed you down to the other side of the tunnel like a strong gust of wind.

You jumped back out the exit and scrambled for footing on the snow as you sprinted into the mist where you usually meet Papyrus. You threw yourself down onto the ground and covered yourself in snow before holding your breath as you hear Sans run past. You felt several blue bones punch through the air in all directions, soaring above your head. Eventually you heard Sans swear and felt a crackle of magic before everything went quiet. You let out the deepest breath of your life and let your head flop onto the ground.

 _That. Was. Too. Close._ Chara said in your mind, before drifting out and flopping onto the ground next to you. Despite the cold already seeping through your leggings and sweater, you were too tired to move.

“Why do you think he’s chosen this run to let us know he remembers?” You asked Chara, barely managing to roll over onto your back so your face wouldn’t be in the snow. “You finally decide to stop Genocide, and Sans turns all ‘I remember everything, now you must die!’ on us” You said with a hysterical giggle.

“I… I don’t know. This is my fault, though. If I hadn’t gone Genocide, you would have probably found a good ending by now. I’m so, so sorry, Frisk.” Chara said, ignoring your joke.

“It’s alright. He can’t permanently kill us, at least. We just have to prove that we aren’t going to kill anyone. I mean, he’s never going to LIKE us, but maybe he won’t try to murder us if we get everyone to the surface?”

“You’re right. I won’t. I won’t have to try, because you’ll already be dead.

 **D I R T Y B R O T H E R K I L L E R** ”

You screamed as a blue hoodie emerged from the mist, the skeleton inside appearing a bit later to your tired eyes. Chara gasped and popped back into your SOUL, taking control and scrambling to stand up.

 _ **CHARA don’t take control he already thinks I’m you he might kill us and we’ll have to run again Chara stopppp**_ You rambled as you were forced to the back of your own mind. You were in a panic, rocking back and forth, watching Chara glare at the skeleton.

_It’ll be fine Frisk, I’ve got this. Besides, I can run faster than you._

_**You can NOT!**_ You said, offended. _**The only reason you beat me in that race was because you cheated by flying!**_

_I totally kicked your butt though._

_**Hmph! FOCUS, CHARA!**_ You said, forcing her mind forward as Sans took a step closer. He was now only a few steps away from you. The concern was back in his eyelights, but it quickly faded and was almost nonexistent as Chara made her signature bored face. “So, you are the demon. You almost had me tricked. Nice try. I didn’t know you could actually be scared.”

“Hey, don’t underestimate anyone. So, how have you been, Smiley Trashbag?”

_**CHARA WHAT THE HECK** _

_He already knew, it was useless pretending!_

_**CHARA WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS HE’S GOING TO KILL US!!!!** _

_No, he won’t._ Chara said before gently shoving you to the back of your mind and focusing on Sans.

“As well as you can be knowing that everyone around you is going to die. So, what’s your game this time, murderer?”

Sans leaned back on his heels, hunching his shoulders. This made him seem huge, looming over you and Chara. She flinched slightly and her bored look slipped for a second. Her control weakened, and that was all you needed. You slammed into control of your body, yelling “I SWEAR TO GOD, CHARA!” Sans looked shocked, stumbling backwards. “…kid?” He whispered, his eyelights returning, filled with complete confusion.

_FRISK STOP I WAS HANDLING THE SITUATION!_

“No! You were RUINING the situation!” You yelled, answering Chara, forgetting all about Sans in your anger. He took a step forward again, reaching out his hand, concern covering his face, and you took advantage of his confusion and sprinted past him into the mist.

You ran through Waterfall at full speed, running past the Echo Flower Fish and diving into your secret cave behind the waterfall. You stood next to the abandoned tutu for a few minutes waiting for Sans to burst in, your breath fast and panicked. The room was small, only six or seven feet to a side, and square. Crystals stuck out in random places from the wall and scattered across the floor, and mushrooms on the floor offer light.

You tried to calm down, leaning against the wall, but you still stayed rigid, staring at the entrance. After a while, you slumped down the wall to the floor. Chara burst out of your body, glaring at you, and you glared right back. “What was that?!” You whisper-yelled at her. “You TOLD him you were the demon! Now he’s definitely going to kill us! Why did you do that?!”

“I had the situation under control, Frisk! He already knew it was me! What was I supposed to do?” Chara yelled back, glaring at you.

“Pretend to be me! Or give me back my body! You can’t keep taking control of me like that! I thought you were done with stealing MY body!” You said, your voice cracking. You dropped your head between your knees and started crying, unable to say anything else. **Sans hates you now. You’ll never be able to hear his jokes or go to Grillby’s with him again. He thinks you killed his brother. Chara hates you too, she probably wishes she could leave. She wishes a different human had fallen down so she wouldn’t be stuck with you. You yelled at her,** **great job** **.** **You probably lost the only friend you’ve ever had.**

“No, I don’t! Frisk, I love you! So does Sans!” The ghost yelled.

You glanced around, ignoring the ghost’s intrusion into your thoughts, and found a sharp piece of crystal. You grabbed it and rolled up your sleeve, slicing your arm open again and again, watching with morbid fascination as blood welled up and dripped down your arm onto the floor, blooming into red blossoms as it mixed with the water on the floor.

You stop four long cuts later, unwrapping the bandage from your other arm. The cuts from earlier are scabbed over, so you take it off and wrap up your cuts, barely managing to cover all four. They quickly begin soaking though the bandage, creating straight lines on the bandage and blossoming into shapes on the wet bandage. You’re thankful that your sweater hides the drops of blood that seep through. Chara was strangely silent, floating over to the exit to look out.

You start feeling faint and curl up, lying in the corner, preparing to take a nap. You tuck the shard of crystal into your boot, ready to be used later, since Sans took your knife. The wet ground begins soaking into your sweater, but it’s already soaked from the snow, so you don’t really notice. You close your eyes, hoping that you didn’t cut too deeply. You don’t want to run from Sans again.


	5. Captured. Again.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk simply cannot catch a break with the skele-bros. Adorable, cinnamon bun gives Frisk some much needed support. (Hugs coming later, I promise!) Mentioned Self Harm from last chapter, but nothing too bad here. Just an extremely freaked out Frisk and an amused Chara.

“HUMAN?!”

You jolt upwards, standing up in under a second. “Can I not catch a break?!” You whispered to Chara, who laughed. The loud yell came from just inside the entrance, and a tall skeleton with a bright orange scarf stood right in front of it. You glanced behind him, wondering if you could get past, before dismissing the idea. Besides, Papyrus wouldn’t kill you. It was Sans that you had to worry about, not his extremely sweet and caring brother. You smiled up at the grinning skeleton.

“Hi!” You said, barely able to keep the tremble out of your voice. Papyrus seemed to realize that you were upset, his grin faded just a little before he pulled it back up, barely seeming forced, unlike yours. You were dizzy and swayed, almost falling over.

“HELLO, HUMAN! MY LAZY BROTHER TOLD ME THAT THE HUMAN ESCAPED HIM! I’M HERE TO CAPTURE YOU AND TAKE YOU TO ASGORE MYSELF. YOU WON’T ESCAPE THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH-HEH-HEH”

Chara burst out laughing. _You’re right, we can’t catch a break this run! We’ve been chased non-stop since we left the ruins._

 _ **And that’s funny to you... why?**_ You asked, the headache adding to your dizziness and almost causing you to faint. You shook your head and focused on the task at hand.

“Do you have to take me to Asgore? Can’t we just be friends?” You asked, giving Papyrus your most nervous smile. “You probably have a lot of friends… never mind. You probably don’t have any room for me.” You said, looking at the ground.

 _You’re laying it on thick, aren’t you?_ Chara said, smirking.

 _ **Oh hush.**_ You thought back, internally glaring at her. _**It’s working, isn’t it?**_

And it was. Papyrus grinned down at you, and you felt yourself grinning back. His joy was infectious. “OF COURSE, HUMAN! WE CAN BE FRIENDS! BUT… I HAVE TO CAPTURE YOU!” Papyrus said.

“But… if you capture me, we can’t be friends! Asgore will take my SOUL!” You said, looking back down at the ground. “Do you… not want to be my friend? I understand...” You said, acting crushed. A tear from the ever helpful Chara added to the image.

“I SUPPOSE… BUT I’M PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD NOW! I MUST CAPTURE YOU!

Your joy from before faded to an anxious ball in your stomach. Apparently the skeleton was still set on capturing you.

Before you could answer, he reached out and grabbed your arm, pulling you along behind him straight out of the exit and through the waterfall. You were unable to stop yourself from flinching when his hand squished the soft cotton of your bandage directly into your cuts. Papyrus glanced back at you, frowning. “IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT, HUMAN?” He asked, glancing at your arm.

He jerked his hand back in shock when he saw that it was covered with a deep red liquid. “Human…?” He asked, his loud voice cut down to little more than a whisper. You instinctively jerked backwards as he reached his hand out, but he grabbed your arm before you could pull away. He rolled up your sleeve and gasped when he saw the bandage, which was stained with red. There was barely a white patch among the swirled dark reds and browns.

He began to peel back the bandage, and you started jerking around like a fish at the end of a lure. He COULDN’T see the cuts, he would hate you too! Papyrus looked at you, concern and sadness in his eyes, and smoothed back down your sleeve. You could see that he knew exactly what was going on, even without actually seeing underneath the bandage. He didn’t say a single word, but picked you up baby style with one hand, carrying you back towards Snowdin.


	6. Small Fluff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Mother Papyrus appears, healing poor Frisk. Small amounts of fluff. See? I have fluff! Don't leave please I swear it will get better!

You struggled for a few seconds before realizing that Papyrus was much bigger and stronger than you, and it was kind of useless. Especially since you were feeling more dizzy and lightheaded every minute. You sighed and settled back, seeming calm on the outside.

On the inside, you were freaking out. When your ‘guardians’ on the surface had caught you, you’d had a long lecture about how it was dangerous and they’d confiscated all of your knives. Luckily, your razor blade was carefully hidden, so they had never found it.

Papyrus hadn’t reacted that way at all, he’d actually seemed sad and almost… concerned? He knew about self-harm for some reason. You knew it was very rare around monsters, even after being trapped underground. They are made of love, after all. So why did happy, sweet, precious, cinnamon bun Papyrus know about it?

 _ **What do I DO?!**_ You asked Chara, almost hyperventilating in your mind. _**He KNOWS! And he’s taking me to his house, where Sans is! What if he kills us?**_

_I don’t think Papyrus will let him. He cares about you, can’t you see it? He’ll keep you safe. I wonder how he knows… Maybe Sans?_

_**I don’t know! What are we going to do?!**_ You refused to let the ghost change the subject, you were set on panicking.

 _Just relax. Let this play out. Maybe they can help you. Papyrus seems to care about you a lot, I’m sure he can help you. If worse comes to worse, you can always RESET. Calm down, it’ll be fine._ Chara said, cutting herself off as you reached Sans and Papyrus’s house.

He was an extremely fast walker, it had taken less than five minutes to get all the way here from Waterfall. Or maybe it had been longer, you were too busy panicking to tell for sure.

_This is all you. I’ll be here with you, but I’m not talking. At ALL. You can do this on your own, Frisk._

_**Nonononono Chara!!!**_ You cried out desperately in your mind as Papyrus opened the door and carried you inside. You could feel Chara smugly settling back, watching the events unfold.

“hey bro” Sans called from the couch, looking at the door as Papyrys carried you in. “did you catch the hu..” He asked, trailing off as he saw you curled into Papyrus’s arms. You reflexively pulled back, retreating deeper into Papyrus’s hold.

“The human needs the first aid kit.” Papyrus said, his normally loud voice sounding strained and tired. He carried you into their kitchen, setting you on a bar-stool and holding his hand out for the first aid kit his brother had grabbed, looking shell-shocked and more than a little angry. You could barely sense a bit of anxiety from Chara’s SOUL bleeding into yours, making you feel even more twitchy.

Sans stood next to his brother, glaring at you as Papyrus rolled up your sleeve. He gaped openly at the sight of your bloody bandage, which somehow managed to look even worse than before. You jerked back as Papyrus started peeling up the bandage again, almost tipping over the bar-stool in your attempt to escape. Sans caught you with blue magic, holding you still as Papyrus continued peeling off the bandage. “St-stop… p-please...” You whisper, managing to tilt your head away.

“It’s alright, human. We aren’t going to hurt you.” Papyrus said, looking sad as he looked up at you, not that you could see it. You had your eyes closed tightly, waiting for the wave of anger certain to follow. The bandage came fully off, and both of the skeletons gasped at the sight of your sliced up arm.

“Kid…?” Sans whispered, leaning closer. The blue magic around you faded, and you threw your other arm up in a desperate attempt to hit the RESET button. Blue magic enveloped you just before you could reach the button, this time Papyrus’s. You twitched and jerked, trying your hardest to escape the stares of the skeletons. Eventually you gave up and closed your eyes, cringing as best you could. You could feel tears forming in the corner of your eyes, which you angrily fought away. You felt a wave of comfort fall over you from Chara’s side of the bond, making you shudder. You awaited the yells, the hate, waited for them to throw you out of their house in anger or for Sans to incinerate you. After all, it was just attention-seeking behavior. Inexcusable. And now you were making them help you, making them worry about you. You didn’t deserve it.

“Human?” Papyrus said, his voice almost a whisper. You opened your eyes again and looked at them, noting silently that the blue glow was gone. Both skeletons were looking straight at you, looking concerned and sad. Papyrus shook his head, watched you for a second longer, and turned to the first aid kit. He gently held you by the wrist and pulled an alcohol wipe out of the kit.

“This might sting, Human.” He warned, wiping the dried blood off your cuts and re-opening the fresh scabs. You winced, barely able to stop from yelping as the cold alcohol seeped into your cuts. Looking at your arm, the cuts looked a lot worse than you thought. They were deep and ragged, stretching across your entire arm. You gave up on the thought of escape for now, maybe you could get a quiet chance to sneak out later.

Papyrus pulled out a tube filled with clear gel and spread some across your arm. It was cold, and you instinctively pulled away. Papyrus held you tightly, yet gently, by the wrist and refused to let go. He gave you a sad look before turning back to your wrist. He finished spreading the gel around, and the stinging ache that you had almost forgotten about faded away, causing you to feel oddly sad.

He pulled out a bandage similar to yours and, with expert precision, quickly wrapped it around your wrist, covering all of the cuts. He picked you up and carried you to the living room. Sans appeared with the black blanket from before, handing it to Papyrus, oddly silent. Papyrus took it, wrapping you in it and setting you in his lap as he sat on the couch. Sans sat on the other side, turning to face you.

“You alright?” He asked, or more demanded, concern and suspicion clashing in his face. He glared slightly at you, probably remembering chasing you, or when Chara took over. His suspicion was greatly outweighed by his and Papyrus’s concern and… care? Why did they care? You were almost asleep, you had lost a lot of blood and you were already lightheaded, and all the running from before had really tired you out, and you hadn’t gotten to rest at all.


	7. Time to rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a very sleepy Frisk gets a well deserved shower and nap. Extremely confused Sans has no clue what to do, and Paps is simply accepting his motherly tendencies. Last of my pre-written chapters! I'll continue posting next Saturday, and the chapters should get longer from here on out!

“You alright?” He asked, or more demanded, concern and suspicion clashing in his face. He glared slightly at you, probably remembering chasing you, or when Chara took over. His suspicion was greatly outweighed by his and Papyrus’s concern and… care? Why did they care? You were almost asleep, you had lost a lot of blood and you were already lightheaded, and all the running from before had really tired you out, and you hadn’t gotten to rest at all.

You relaxed in Papyrus’s lap, exhausted, and stared at Sans. You couldn’t think of anything to say that would make them forget what they just saw. You were so tired, you could barely think at all.

_**Chara, don’t abandon me! What do I do?!** _

_Tell the truth! Tell them what you did! They already know!_

_**That’ll just make them hate me!** _

_They don’t hate you! Don’t you see they care?_ The ghost yelled in your head, causing you to wince in pain. The headache from talking to Chara, mixed with your dizziness and nausea, made you feel like you were going to puke. Papyrus started to rub your shoulders, but you flinched away. After about five minutes of sitting in awkward silence, Papyrus finally spoke.

“Sans, the human is tired. Maybe we should let them take a shower and get some sleep, we can talk in the morning.”

“But-” Sans started to protest, but Papyrus put a finger over his mouth and stood up, carrying you upstairs. He set you down in front of the bathroom and told you to take as long as you needed, there was plenty of hot water.

  


You sleepily got undressed, folding your clothes neatly and setting them on the sink. You turned on the hot water and got in, almost yelping when it quickly became hot enough to burn. You spent nearly half an hour in the shower, eventually sitting when your legs could no longer support your weight. Getting out, you toweled off your hair and turned to the counter, seeing a long, plain white shirt folded where your clothes had been. You got dressed quickly, the shirt falling over your knees. Obviously it was one of Papyrus’s.

You realized that a new bandage had been sitting on the t-shirt, now lying on the floor by your feet. You quickly threw away your wet, bloody one, tracing your fingers over the new lines and wincing. Using a crystal had made your cuts ragged, these would leave scars for sure. You traced the other scars on your arms, unpleasant memories flooding your mind. You shook them away and wrapped the new bandage around your arm before opening the door and stepping out into the hallway.

Sans and Papyrus were downstairs, whispering quietly as you opened the door. They heard the creak and looked up, Papyrus’s face broadening into a grin.

“HUMAN! DID YOU FINISH YOUR SHOWER?” He asked. You nodded, too tired to say anything. He bounded up the stairs and picked you up again, ignoring your struggle and noises of protest. “You can sleep in my room. I don’t take all-night naps like my lazy brother, so I don’t mind sleeping on the couch!” He was careful to keep his booming voice down to spare your ears.

“I don’t want to take your bed...” You weakly protested, trailing off with a yawn. “Nonsense!” The skeleton said. Sans, who you hadn’t noticed walking behind you with a strangely blank expression, teleported in front of you and opened Papyrus’s door. He then teleported inside and pulled back the blankets so Papyrus could tuck you in, which the taller skeleton did happily.

You opened your mouth to protest, but before you could say anything, Papyrus shook his head decisively. “Let me know if you need anything, human!” He said, before grabbing his brother’s arm and dragging him out the door, shutting it behind him.

Chara popped out of your SOUL and settled down next to you. “See? I told you they care!” She said, a smirk on her face. “Shut up, Chara!” You yelled before remembering that the skele-bros could probably hear you. You lowered your voice to a whisper. “I… I don’t understand. Sans hates me.” You said, rolling onto your side and closing your eyes. The last thing you heard as you fell asleep was an odd crashing noise downstairs.

  


The skeleton brothers were quietly yelling at each other.

“Bro… ” Sans whispered, already feeling sick. Seeing the cuts on your arms had shaken him. You were the demon that killed his brother, killed everyone… weren’t you? The _**emotionless**_ demon, stress on _**emotionless**_.

“Brother.” Papyrus said, giving his brother a hard stare. “They’re staying with us.”

“B-but bro-!” Sans started to protest before being shushed by Papyrus.

“The human needs help, and we’re _going_ to help them.”

Sans was silent, remembering all the times he had watched his brother being slain, the time _he_ had been killed. What the **h e l l** was going on? He would say that this was a trick, a trap, some sort of new game… but he remembered how strange the human had been acting. Almost as if they were fighting someone… Maybe it would be a good idea to keep them where he could keep an eye on them, this RESET.

“Fine.” Sans said, and before his brother could say another word, Sans had teleported to his room. By the time Papyrus got there, Sans appeared to be fast asleep. Papyrus shook his head and went down to the kitchen to start preparing for the human child he now had to care for.


	8. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk wakes up, Sans figures something out, and Papyrus is a clever cinnamon bun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah this still sucks, sorry guys! I want to get better, but I haven't had much time to write between drama and schoolwork. On a better note, go check out this awesome fanfic if you love the skelebros and Father!Gaster.   
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/14688732/chapters/33939561

_**Chara swung the True Knife towards Asgore, face tight in pain and anger. The knife made contact, and the single blow took down his HP. As his soul crumbled and fell apart, Chara seemed to crumble right along with it. You suddenly regained control of your body as Chara appeared beside you. She crumpled to the floor, tears streaming down her face as she knelt in the dust of the King of All Monsters. “I… I’m so sorry….” She whispered to the dust.** _

You gasped, waking up in a cold sweat. You took deep, calming breaths, trying to calm your racing heart. Glancing over, you saw Chara curled up next to you, tears streaking her face, hugging you as she slept. Apparently, you and the ghost girl had shared a nightmare last night. You closed your eyes and sunk into her warm embrace, sighing contently despite all that had happened. You sent a wave of good memories to her through your bond, and felt her shudder as she slipped into better dreams.

_**Sans stood in the mist, watching for the hundredth time as his brother, Papyrus, tried again to stop the human. Watching his brother fail, his head rolling to a stop at the Demon’s feet. God, he hated this. But he knew there was nothing he could do. And eventually the Demon would bring them all back, RESETing and starting all over again. There was no point in trying to defend his brother. If he killed them, they’d just come back and kill him again.** _

God, he hated that dream. Every time he slept, without fail, he’d have that same _fucking dream._ What had he been thinking, letting that human in their house? A wave of panic jolted through him, and suddenly he was sprinting through their house, mind reeling with all the possible things that the human could have done to his brother while he slept. He stopped in front of his brother’s door, hearing the faint sound of snores from inside.

He peeked inside, seeing the human lying on his brother’s bed, fast asleep. His panic lessened just a bit as he watched them sleep. They seemed so calm, so serene, so _childlike._ When did the human change this much _?_ He was still in shock from seeing the cuts on their arms, the tears in their eyes, the panic when his brother tried to heal them.

Why did everything have to be so _damn complicated?!_ Sans sighed, and the human stirred. “Chara?” They murmured in their sleep, shifting in bed. He tilted his head, curious. Wasn’t the Royal Princess named Chara once? A long, long time ago? He moved closer, listening. “What?” the human whispered, waking up slightly. Sans was frozen. They appeared to be… talking to someone?

“I know… but… Sans still hates me, Chara. I don’t want to bother him. And we promised. We’re getting everyone out, remember?” They said, yawning and stretching. Sans promptly vanished, appearing behind his brother in the kitchen. His brother jumped, spraying tomato sauce all over the room from the spaghetti he had been making. “BROTHER! DO NOT SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT!”

“sorry bro.”

You slowly began to wake up, yawning and whispering to a half-asleep Chara as your mind started working again. You had to leave soon, head out on your way to set everyone free. But surely you could stay curled up in the blankets just a _little_ bit longer? It was so warm… although you were far more comfortable with Chara’s physical manifestation next to you. She must have faded out sometime last night while you were sleeping.

The door flew open, and an extremely tall and loud skeleton burst in, interrupting your train of thought. “HUMAN!” He yelled, and you sighed reluctantly, snuggling deeper into the blankets.

“Five more minutes?” You sleepily murmured, not wanting to get up and face Sans. You should have snuck out last night when they were all sleeping. You wouldn’t put it past Sans to sleep in front of the door to stop you from doing just that, though.

“YOU AND MY BROTHER ARE BOTH SUCH LAZYBONES! IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP, HUMAN!” He said, and you slowly yawned and stretched.

“Alright, Paps.” You said, sitting up and swinging your legs over the side of Papyrus’s racecar bed. You shivered as you left the warm safety of your blankets into the frigid wasteland of the house’s air. You really didn’t want to put your poor feet on the freezing floor yet so you looked at Papyrus, wondering silently if he would carry you. He walked out the door, telling you to come down when you were dressed. Damn.

Your sleepy mind took a few seconds to become semi-conscious before you looked around. On top of his dresser, next to his action figures, you saw your beloved striped sweater and shorts. You cringed as you put your toes on the freezing floor, trying not to yelp. God, you hated getting up in the morning. You quickly got dressed and looked at yourself in the mirror.

You had no clue what you were going to do once you got downstairs. The skele-bros had seen what you had done to yourself, but they didn’t seem to hate you. Instead, Papyrus had given you a hug and taken care of you, and Sans hadn’t said a word. You weren’t sure exactly what to think, and you were terrified that when you got downstairs they were finally going to start yelling at you.

It would honestly be a relief, at least you knew how to deal with that. Screaming, yelling, anger, that you could understand. This quiet concern? Only Toriel had ever shown you any kind of love, and you didn’t know what to do with it. God, you’d take death again over this pit of anxiety in your stomach.

 _Stop thinking so **loudly!**_ Chara whined, successfully interrupting your train of thought. _I’m **trying** to sleep. _

“Well, I’m sorry, Princess Chara. Is my anxiety getting in the way of your nap?” You replied sarcastically, turning towards the door.

_Yes, it is, actually. Just chill out, they aren’t going to yell at you. Haven’t you ever had a friend before?_

“I have you.” You said under your breath. Taking a deep breath, you shook out your hands and opened the door. Papyrus looked up from the kitchen table and grinned, while Sans simply sat there silently, glaring at you.

“HELLO HUMAN! DID YOU SLEEP WELL?” Papyrus said as you quickly walked down the stairs.

“Yeah. I’m sorry I took your bed, Papyrus.” You said as you reached the table. You sat at the table across from Sans, instinctively leaning closer to Papyrus for comfort. Sans continued to glare, although his gaze was filled with more concern than anger.

“It’s quite alright, Human!” Papyrus said, lowering his tone now that he was next to you. “I shall go prepare you some breakfast spaghetti!” He said, jumping up with a meaningful look at his brother that you completely missed.


	9. Hiatus (Sorry!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explaining why I haven't updated

Sorry I haven't updated this week guys, I've been sick. Not sure exactly what I have, but I believe it's a sinus infection. I've been too tired and just generally felt too bad to do anything but sleep and lie on the couch watching YouTube and Leverage. I'll try to have an update next week!


	10. The Morning After (Fluff Version)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a short, fluffy chapter because author is ill and bleh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really felt like writing fluff, so I wrote a happier version of The Morning After. Hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> Note: Both of these chapters are canon, it depends on which you want to use in your own mind. No real references will be made to this chapter, the important part is that Sans overheard Frisk talking to Chara. 
> 
> Note 2: In my interpretation, Frisk is non-binary and Chara is female. If you want to interpret it any other way, feel free! I tried to make the story as gender neutral as possible. :)

You slowly began to wake up, yawning and whispering to a half-asleep Chara as your mind started working again. You had to leave soon, head out on your way to set everyone free. But surely you could stay curled up in the blankets just a _little_ bit longer? It was so warm… even if Chara had faded back into your soul sometime last night. You were so comfortable…

Chara yawned and stretched as she floated out of your soul. “Can’t we stay for a little while?” She whined, hovering above you. You curled up into a ball, sighing. “Maybe they have chooocolate!” Chara said hopefully. You gave in and rolled over onto your back, staring up at the ghost. “God, I hope so. It’s been _so_ long. Why didn’t we eat the chocolate in Mom’s fridge?”

“Cause it’s Mom’s chocolate. It might be snail flavored.” You both laugh.

“Honestly, it might be. It wouldn’t surprise me.” You yawned again and sat up, throwing off the blankets in one smooth motion. The frigid wasteland of frozen air hit you, and you almost yelped. “God, it’s coooold in Snowdin.” You whined as you got dressed. The skelebros had washed and returned your sweater, along with a pair of sweatpants that had to belong to Sans. Funny, you had never seen him wearing anything but his hoodie and a pair of gym shorts.

You sighed in relief as you slipped on your sweater, the fabric instantly beginning to warm up your freezing arms. “Chara?” You turned around, facing the ghost girl. She looked up at you, concerned with your sudden change of tone. “Yeah?”

“Thanks for being here.” You whispered, looking at the ground. You didn’t notice her moving until she wrapped her arms around you. “Anytime.” She said, hugging you tightly. You stood there for several minutes, comforted by the closeness and warmth of her soul. After what felt like hours, she finally pulled back and gently turned you around. “Let’s stay here for awhile.” She said, shoving you towards the door before phasing back into your soul.

“Alright.”


	11. Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which several things are asked, a ghost girl finally gets chocolate, and a non-binary pal almost dies. Also there is chocolate. :) (If you couldn’t tell, le author is a chocolate addict)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, after next chapter, the drama will begin to slow down!!! I'm trying to finish up a few things so that I can get to the slower part of the story plot. I know this part is rushing through, please bear with me! Love you guys! <3

“hey kiddo.” Sans said, looking across the table at you. He seemed curious, watching you as though you were either a lion or a kitten, and he didn't know which. 

 

“Hey Sans.” You said nervously, eyeing him as you prepared to run away at a second's notice. Your arm began to itch under the bandages, and you scratched it absentmindedly in the silence. 

Sans had seemed so shocked, so concerned when he saw your cuts. He had accepted you into his home and carefully taken care of you, even after you had killed all of his friends. 

 

Suddenly the silence seemed too tense to bear, and you suddenly blurted out “Why?”

Sans tilted his head, looking at you. “hmm?” He hummed, and you instantly wished you could load back a few seconds and avoid this entire conversation.

 

“Why did you help me? Why aren't you mad? Why didn't you just kill me again? Why did you let me in your house? Everyone else has just thrown me out.” You practically whispered the last bit, crossing your arms on the table and nestling your head into them. You felt much safer like that, your warm sweater surrounding your face and hiding everything but your eyes from view. 

 

“why would we throw you out?” He asked, looking away. “its not like paps and i havent dealt with that before.” He signed, rubbing his arms through his hoodie. The pieces suddenly clicked together in your mind, and Chara gasped in the back of your mind. 

_ I knew it!  _ She crowed proudly, making you wince.

 

**_Chara! That hurts!_ ** You angrily thought to the ghost, internally sighing. 

_ Sorry. But I was right! It was Sans!  _ She said, lowering her volume slightly.

“you alright, kiddo?” Sans asked, looking worried. That still confused you. Why was he so worried about the demon? The monster that killed all of his friends and his brother so many times in a row? You knew he remembered, why did he care about you?

 

“Yeah. Just a headache.” You replied, closing your eyes and snuggling deeper into your arms. “really.” He said, less of a question and more of a statement. “hey paps, im takin the kid to grillbys. do you mind? we love your spaghetti, but its not exactly healthy for humans to have it for breakfast.” Sans called to his brother, hearing an affirmative yell in return.

“OF COURSE, SANS! I’LL JUST HAVE TO PREPARE EXTRA SPAGHETTI FOR LUNCH INSTEAD!”

 

“welp kiddo, lets go. i know a shortcut.” He said, standing up and watching you curiously. You had jolted upright and were sitting there, straight as a board, staring into space. At his voice, you shook your head and looked at him. “A-alright.” You whispered, standing up. You had been frantically yelling to Chara, who was too sleepy to do anything but send waves of comfort to you through your bond. You flinched when he grabbed your arm a little rougher than necessary, and looked up anxiously as you realized his eyelights had completely disappeared. You didn’t have a chance to say anything before he whisked you through a shortcut. Both of you fell onto two luckily unoccupied bar stools in Grillby’s bar. 

 

He released your arm and watched you, seemingly content with making you feel as awkward as possible. “whatcha want, kiddo? foods on me.” 

 

Chara perked up, scanning the menu quickly.

_ Frisk! Frisk, look! He sells hot chocolate!  _ She said excitedly, practically jumping in your mind. You chucked as you scanned the menu. You were actually extremely hungry, but your anxiety was churning your stomach. You looked back at Sans, deciding to push the skeleton slightly. You were slightly angry at how rude he was being when you hadn’t even done anything. Was this finally his anger at your cuts? 

 

Had he just not wanted to yell at you in front of his brother? You had finally decided to trust him, and this was how he was going to treat you? You bristled, glancing at the menu again. “Can I get a hot ham and cheese sandwich?” You asked, deciding on one of the most expensive items on the menu. “And a hot chocolate?” You added after some prodding from Chara.

 

He didn’t even bat an eye, turning to Grillby and quickly ordering for you, getting himself a burger. Grillby had been watching your silent conversation with yourself, curious and concerned. He shot Sans a meaningful look and turned to get your food.

_ Frisk! Calm down! How could he get mad at you for something he did to himself too? I’m sure this is about something else, alright?  _ Chara whispered soothingly. You could almost hear her rubbing your back in your mind.

 

**_Maybe…_ ** You quietly faded off, watching Sans curiously. 

“Why are we here, Sans?” You asked, throwing your anxiety to the wind. There was no point. If he murdered you, you’d just go back to the original chase. If he yelled, you could just reset. You weren’t  _ positive  _ that he knew about the resets… maybe he just remembered some things and not small, insignificant things like this?

 

“to ask you a few questions without paps breathing down our necks.” He deadpanned, giving you an empty stare. “first, are you going to kill anyone else?” 

 

You almost fell off your chair, quickly shaking your head. “No. Never. We-I am done with that.” You said, internally growling at yourself. You had almost given away Chara in one sentence. 

“good. second question. who the hell is chara?” 

 

This time you did fall off the barstool, landing on the floor. Your head cracked sickeningly against the floor, and the last thing you heard was Chara screaming in your head as the world went black.


	12. Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which things are discovered and other things happen. :P

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, gonna be a bit angsty. Throwing in a trigger warning for death. I’ll try not to be too detailed, but be warned. Everyone be safe reading my trashy works~

The darkness gave way to colors, bright spots that slowly took shape in your mind as dreams overtook your deep sleep. You were lying on the cold tiles, face pressed against the floor in Grillby’s. Pushing yourself over and groaning, you saw Sans above you, glaring. His eye flared blue, and you jumped as a giant skull appeared above your head. 

“ **Useless. Waste of space.** ” 

 

Papyrus and Chara appeared next to him, both shaking their heads down at you sadly.

“ **Disappointing. All you do is take up our time and resources. We’d be better off without you.”**

 

Toriel stalked up next to them, fire wreathing her hands as she stared you down, sadness in her empty eyes. 

 

“ **Get out. You waste of space.”**

All of the voices chimed in unison, raising their hands to attack you as they surrounded you in a large circle.

 

“ **Useless. Annoying. Disappointing. You hurt us. You KILLED us. This is what you deserve. You can never fix this. You can never be better. You are a murderer.”**

You curled up into a ball, sobbing and screaming as the attacks pierced your body.

 

“ **Frisk? Frisk?! FRISK!!!** ”   
  


You jolted awake, realizing suddenly that you were no longer on the floor in Grillby’s. Looking around, you silently noted that you were in Sans’ room, with Sans and Papyrus looking down on you. You screamed, scrambling away from them and falling off the bed. 

 

. You continued screaming, scrambling into the corner. Gasping for air and trying to stop sobbing, you watched with panicked eyes as Papyrus reached his hand towards you. 

 

“STAY AWAY FROM ME!” You screamed, shaking. “I’M DANGEROUS! I’LL HURT YOU AGAIN!” Visions flashed through your mind, all the times you murdered Papyrus. The time you murdered Sans. When you killed Mom and Asgore and Flowey and Alphys and Undyne and oh godwhathaveyoudone-

 

“Stop it, Frisk!” Chara screamed, bursting out of your soul and shaking you. “It’s alright! You’re alright! It’s over, Frisk. It’s over!” She hugged you, and you clung to her desperately as she rubbed your head and patted your back. She hummed to you as you slowly began to stop shaking, tears still running down your face. 

 

She shifted slightly, and you curled up into her lap. You had no clue how that worked, since she was a ghost, but you didn’t take the time to try and figure it out. You just sat there, comforted by her warmth and the thrum of her soul. You finally took a deep, shaky breath and opened your eyes. 

 

It took you another minute to look up, seeing Sans looking stunned and Papyrus looking concerned. Sans’s eyelights had disappeared. His hand was outstretched as though he was about to cast a magic attack, but he was too shocked. When he saw you watching, he shook his head. His eyelight flared with a blue fire, and suddenly you were on the ground as Chara flew into the air. Her soul glowed an icy blue as she hovered in the air above you. 

 

“Chara!” You screamed, jumping up and throwing your arms in front of her. Sans’s eyesockets tightened as he glared at you. “so this is chara.” He said, his voice so quiet it was almost a whisper. You glared defiantly at him. 

 

“Leave. Her. Alone.” You said, your soul flaring red.”Chara, can you go back into my soul?” You asked over your shoulder. You didn’t dare turn your back to Sans. 

“n-no.” She choked out. You could feel her panic building in your own soul. 

 

“Then we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way.” You glared at Sans, meeting his eyes and refusing to blink. “If you hurt her, I’ll just reset. You know that. So  _ put. her. down. _ ” You said, your voice going dangerously quiet. Your eyes flared red with determination and you knew that you’d die again if it meant saving Chara. 

 

You’d do anything for her. 

“kid. is she the demon? did she-” He began, cutting himself off as his throat closed up. His hand fell to his side, and Chara immediately settled into your soul.

 

_ Frisk, you… you risked your happier life for me. Than- _

 

“Don’t. Don’t you dare thank me, Chara. You know I don’t deserve it.”

“Human… are you alright? Is your ‘Chara’ alright?”

You nodded your head, not trusting yourself with words. You were both extremely pissed and also spiraling into depression, so you really didn’t want to let anything else slip out of your mouth without thinking.

 

“Good. Then, if you don’t mind, Sans and I are going to have a talk.” He said, glaring at his brother. He grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out the door, muttering under his breath.


	13. Plotless Fluff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluffy things happen...  
> I am extremely obsessed with writing fluff this week aren't I? :P

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I know this is a really early post (and a really short post) but I wrote some plotless fluff and I really wanted to post it lol. You can include this in the actual story plot if you want, but it doesn't really matter. :)

You curled back up onto the bed, already beginning to shake and sob. The skeleton brothers were yelling at each other downstairs, and it was  _ all your fault.  _ All you  _ ever  _ did was screw things up and hurt people. Your sobs increased, as did your shaking. You could feel Chara’s panic finally beginning to lessen in your soul, and she suddenly began to realize that you were crying again.

 

“Frisk, Frisk, it’s alright. It’s not your fault. Frisk!” She yelled, snapping you out of your thoughts. She laid down on the bed behind you, massaging your shoulders and sending waves of comfort and warmth through your bond until you began to calm down.

 

“Frisk, none of this is your fault. You weren’t the one who killed everyone.” She said sadly. “We both know that was my fault.”

 

“It wasn’t your fault, Chara!” You snapped, flipping around to face her. “If it wasn’t for me, you would have never tried to kill them. You just wanted to help me get home!”

 

“If it wasn’t for you, I would never have woken up at all! Frisk, you’re the only reason I’m even alive right now. I killed myself. I deserve to be dead.” 

 

“You were trying to help everyone escape! You had a good reason. Unlike me. I just wanted to escape myself.” You said, reaching out and taking her hand. You knew the ghost was a good person, even if she didn’t know it herself.

 

“Hey Frisk?” Chara said quietly.

 

“Yeah, Chara?” 

 

“You know I’ll always be here for you, right? I’m  _ never  _ leaving you. No matter what. And  _ I  _ think you’re the best person in the entire underground.”

 

“Well, that can’t be true, because  _ you’re  _ the best person in the underground.” You replied, smirking.

 

Chara laughed, a bright, clear sound that made you smile happily. “I suppose we’ll have to agree to disagree.”

 

“I suppose we will.” You said, cuddling up to her contently and wrapping your arms around her. The two of you fell asleep, entwined in a ball of (ghostly) limbs and striped sweaters. In your entire life, you had never felt this safe. Or this warm, even with the blanket still underneath the two of you.


	14. Resets...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which one skeleton learns to chill and another’s world view is validated.  
> Also, the author has decided, to hell with the uploading schedule I'm uploading whenever I please.  
> (Basically I've been dying recently and doing nothing but write and I want to post lol)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my freaking god Sans stop being betrayed so I can continue my ship, please and thank you. Also, I shouldn’t have to say this, but this is PLATONIC. They are brothers. Thank you, that is all, please enjoy!

“Sans. What the _hell_ was that?!” Papyrus asked, his normally loud voice almost silent. Sans jumped, shocked beyond belief. In every single one of the resets, his brother had _never_ sworn. Never used any even slightly strong language. All he could do was stare. If his mouth could open, his jawbone would be on the floor.

 

“w-what?” Sans stuttered. He had completely missed the rest of the sentence in his shock.

 

Papyrus sighed, sitting on the couch as all of his charactaristic, excited energy seemed to flood out of him. “Why? Why would you attack them like that?” He asked, putting his skull in his hands.

 

“p-paps…” Sans said, sitting next to his brother. He reached out an arm to rub his back, but flinched and brought it back.

 

“Do not ‘Paps’ me, brother.” Papyrus almost snarled, and Sans physically flinched. “You almost _killed_ an innocent human _in our house._ I thought that maybe, just maybe you’d have a bit of sympathy for them? _Especially_ after you saw what they did to _themselves._ You of all people should know how much someone is hurting to do that to themselves!” He looked up, practically shouting the last sentence.

 

“i-i know…” Sans said, leaning back against the couch and staring up at the ceiling with blank eyesockets. “paps... i think it’s time i told you something.” He said with a sigh.

“That kid in there? They’re not a good person. At least, they weren’t. I-I don’t _fucking understand!”_ Blue tears began to leak from his good eyesocket as he remembered all of the past genocide runs.

 

“Paps… They killed you. And Undyne, and Alphys… they killed everyone! So many _fucking_ times… And nothing I did mattered. Every single time, something would happen, they would die or just get bored and they would reset and nobody remembered a thing. It didn’t matter if I got out of bed or not because eventually, it’d all be reset and nobody would remember a _goddamned thing._ I could be talking to you, or Grillby, or about to bite down onto a burger, and suddenly everything would skip backwards. Sometimes days, sometimes hours, minutes, even seconds. And it was _their fault._ Every time they died or made a mistake, time would reverse. Eventually, they got tired of being nice and being friends with everyone. They got _bored._ And instead they started killing _everyone._ You, Alphys, Undyne, Syren, Aaron, Snowdrake, everyone. They just… killed everyone. Without any mercy. Just because they could. All you wanted to do was spare them, and they still-” Sans stopped talking with a sob.

 

“Brother… I’m so, so sorry.” Papyrus said, looking over at Sans.

 

“But… obviously they didn’t want to. Didn’t you see how they reacted today? They were terrified of hurting us. They didn’t want to hurt anyone.” He said, trying to convince himself more than Sans. “Brother, they can do better. And they’re trying! But they can’t if you don’t let them. They obviously feel terrible, Sans. Give them a chance, alright?”

 

“i... i’ll try, bro.” Sans said quietly, laying down with his head in Papyrus’s lap. His brother slowly massaged his head, and he quickly fell asleep. Papyrus simply sat there, absently rubbing and staring up at the ceiling in thought.


	15. You Glow?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More fluff, but story-relevant fluff this time! Eventually you guys are going to start hating me for all this fluff!
> 
> (I swear this stuff looks so much longer in Google Docs and then I look at it here and it's like "where'd the rest of the story go wth")

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for death mentions. Actually, more like murder mentions? We all know the genocide story plot. But be safe! I’m writing this chapter in 3rd person instead of 1st, trying something new. We’ll see how it works! Let me know if you like this better or if you want me to go back to first person!

Frisk woke up smiling for once, good dreams having filled their mind. Eating butterscotch pie with Mom, dating (and getting friendzoned by) Papyrus, laughing along with Sans’s puns, playing Papyrus’s puzzles, petting the dogs, playing tag and hide and seek with Chara in the ruins. Basically, every good part of the Underground. Before they decided to murder everyone. When had they ever decided that was a good idea?

 

Frisk opened their eyes slowly, blinking and grinning when they saw Chara’s rosy cheeks and red eyes staring into their own. “Morning, Chara.” They whispered happily.

 

“Morning, sleepyhead.” She whispered back, just as happy. They were comfortable, warm, and safe. Well, as safe as they could be in a house with Sans. Frisk didn’t want to ruin this, but they had to ask. 

 

“Chara… When did we ever think that Genocide was a good idea?” They sighed and felt the good mood drain out of both of them. 

 

“I… I don’t know.” Chara’s voice broke as she watched the sad, broken confusion in Frisk’s eyes. “I think it was after Asgore kept killing us? No matter how hard we tried, we could never spare him. He just kept attacking, and attacking, and killing, and killing…” Tears welled up in the ghost’s eyes, and she sniffled as she wiped them away.

 

“I was so overwhelmed and hurt that Dad would ever hurt anyone, I didn’t know what to do. So when we lashed out at that first Froggit and got stronger, I guess we just assumed that’s how we would defeat Asgore. If we got strong enough, we could escape. Be free, safe, on the surface. I could see the stars, and you could see your family.” Chara gave up trying to hold back her tears, letting them stream freely down her face and dissolve into pure energy in the air.

 

“Chara… you know that wasn’t just your fault, right? We both attacked that Froggit. Both of us made that choice, and both of us are going to have to live with it together. But we can live with it together. We can be here for each other, and support each other. We don’t have to carry that weight alone.” Frisk replied, reaching out and hugging the ghost girl. They wiped away her tears and rubbed her back, just as she had done for them last night. Even as their own tears joined hers in a race to hit the sheets.

 

Eventually the two human’s tears slowed. Two shuddering breaths were taken in unison, and both of them looked up at the exact same second. Their eyes met and they stared at each other for almost a full minute before they both burst out into hysterical laughter. They laughed, and kept laughing. It was SO funny, they couldn’t stop. Tears rolled down their faces again, but this time they were happy tears.

 

“Wh-why are we l-lau-ughing?” Chara panted as she finally began to calm down. Her breath came in short huffs as she tried to get herself under control.

 

“I don’t kno-ow!” Frisk managed to cough out, not in any better shape than Chara. They took deep, shuddering breaths and began to breathe normally again. Sitting up, they rested their back against Sans’s pillow and looked up at the ceiling. Funny, they had never noticed before, but there were little glow in the dark stars covering his ceiling. 

 

“What time is it?” Chara asked, looking around. The room was shrouded in darkness, but it was the comfortable sort of darkness. The warm kind of darkness that covers you like a blanket and makes you feel safe and loved. Frisk glanced over at her and gasped. 

 

“Chara, you glow!” They said excitedly, practically buzzing.The ghost’s hair glowed a kind of chesnut-y brown, her eyes and soul glowed a bright red, her cheeks glowed a rosy pink, and her sweater glowed a warm green-yellow. 

 

“How many resets have we been through? And you just  _ now  _ noticed that I glow?” Chara asked, sitting up just to dramatically throw herself back onto the middle of the bed, hand on her  _ glowing  _ head. She started giggling, and Frisk shortly followed, shifting to lay next to her. They quickly grabbed the blanket and flipped it around so it would still cover them because it was  _ cold  _ in Snowdin.

 

The two humans quickly fell asleep, hands entwined as Chara glowed dimly in the darkness. 

 

(I feel like I’m advancing their relationship way too quickly but fight me I’m allowed to wish I had a relationship ;-;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -cough- the real reason I wrote in third person is because I was basically asleep writing this and didn't notice until it was like half written -cough- did you hear something? no? okay good you weren't supposed to. none of you heard a thing. nope. none.  
> -a wolf appears and carries the author to bed-


	16. Chocolate!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is finally chocolate! And actual breakfast, but mostly chocolate! Next chapter is going to be a fun one!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I'm going to sleep now. As I'm posting this it is literally 11:25 and I am tired. I will proofread it tomorrow at school.  
> Let me know anything I can fix with my story! Thank you so much for reading! I love you guys!
> 
> EDIT: Oh my god when did we get 600 hits?! Thank you guys so much! You are all so amazing~

When Frisk awoke the next morning, Chara had settled back into their soul. They sighed slightly, both upset at losing her physical form and comfortable with the slight pressure in their chest as Chara’s soul meshed perfectly with their own.

 

“Morning, Princess Chara.” They yawned, sitting up and stretching. Their neck was cramped from sleeping without a pillow, and they winced as it popped. 

 

_ Why are you like this?  _ The ghost sighed, and Frisk could  **feel** her rolling her eyes at them.

 

Frisk cackled, grinning as they swung their feet out of Sans’s bed. They  whimpered as their toes hit the floor, quickly picking them back up and searching for socks. Seeing a pair of Sans’s socks discarded on the floor, they laid on their stomach and stretched, reaching as far as they could. 

 

“Ughh, Chara, help!” They said, giving up. The ghost appeared, crossing her arms and hovering above the socks. 

 

“Why should I?” She said, smirking.

 

“Pleaseee?”

 

“Hmph.”

 

“Pretty please with a chocolate cherry on top?”

 

“Why must you taunt me?!” Chara whined. “Also have you forgotten I literally cannot pick them up?”

 

“Ughh, but it’s so cold!” Frisk shivered, looking around thoughtfully. They reached across the bed and grabbed Sans’s pillow. Tossing it on the floor, they used it as a bridge to reach the socks. 

 

“I have crossed the frozen wasteland to reach the socks of almighty warmth!” They declared proudly, throwing their hands open, Sans’s blanket waving between their hands like a flag. They then yelped as the cold air hit them, quickly wrapping the blanket around them as a cloak of comfort.

 

“You’re such a nerd.” Chara replied, laughing. She gently shoved them towards the door. “Come on, let’s go.” She said as she faded back into Frisk’s soul. Frisk sighed sadly, pulling the blanket tighter around themselves and walking out the door.

 

Reaching the staircase, they stopped just before stepping down at the sound of voices. Tilting their head, the human listened intently. 

 

“SANS?”

 

“yea, bro?”

 

“ARE YOU… ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

 

“yeah bro, im good.”

 

“THAT IS GOOD! I REMEMBER WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT LAST NIGHT, AND I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT IT.”

 

“what did you want to say?”

 

“WE SHOULD TALK TO THE HUMAN ABOUT IT AND SEE WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY! I’M SURE THEY HAD A GOOD REASON FOR THEIR ACTIONS!”

 

“... alright bro.”

 

Frisk shook their head, panic starting to build in a pit in their stomach. What were they talking about? Your cuts… your nightmare? 

 

_ Frisk, it’s going to be alright. _

 

“Yeah.” They said, beginning to walk down the stairs. The blanket and the weight of Chara’s soul worked like anchors, keeping them centered in the present and stopping them from being swept away in a tidal wave of anxiety. Frisk stopped at the bottom of the stairs, taking a deep breath before stepping forward and clearing their throat.

 

The two skeleton brothers looked up from their seat at the table. They had dragged the table from the front door forward and placed three stools around it at some point. It had been there when Papyrus had first dragged them here, but you didn’t remember it being there during past runs. This really was a weird reset.

 

“HELLO HUMAN! THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS PREPARED AN AMAZING MEAL FOR YOU! YOU MUST BE HUNGRY!” Papyrus said excitedly, jumping up and running into the kitchen. As Frisk sat quietly in the seat next to his, he came running back in, balancing a plate in each hand and one on his head. With a flourish, he placed both plates from his hands onto the table. The plate from his head vanished in a flash of blue light and appeared in front of Sans. 

 

Frisk quietly grabbed a plate and pulled it towards themselves, glancing at it nervously. It was spaghetti, that much they could tell, but beyond that they had no clue what was in it. Apparently it was Papyrus’s version of breakfast?

 

Bits of what looked like eggs were mixed into the noodles, along with bits of what looked like water sausage. Was this the monster version of eggs and bacon? Frisk tentatively poked their fork into the food, taking a small bite. Their face reflexively scrunched up. The taste was… indescribable. 

 

Actually, it was pretty good. Not exactly the combination they would have chosen, but… it wasn't terrible. And they were starving. 

 

“THAT LOOK ON YOUR FACE… YOU MUST BE ASTOUNDED BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS'S SPAGHETTI!”

 

Frisk murmured agreement, mouth full of breakfast spaghetti. Chara sighed in relief as the aching hunger pangs both of them had been feeling quickly began to fade away as the monster food dissolved in Frisk’s throat. As they finished eating, blue magic flared. The hot chocolate from Grillby's appeared in front of Frisk, somehow still warm enough to put off steam. 

 

“wouldn't want to waste grillbz hot coco, now, would we? i ate your sandwich though, hope you don't mind.” Sans said, watching as Frisk’s eyes lit up. They murmured thanks, reaching for the mug. 

 

_ Chocolate!  _ Chara crowed happily in the back of Frisk’s mind as they picked up the mug. They held the mug next to their nose, basking in the warmth of the mug and the amazing smell of the chocolate. Frisk and Chara sighed in unison, eyes closed in pure bliss. Taking a sip, both humans melted. The warm coco dissolved down their throat, becoming a warm wave of energy that slipped through their entire body. Frisk shuddered in pure bliss. 

 

“so… kiddo. about Chara.” Sans spoke up as they sipped their hot chocolate. If monster food wasn't made of pure energy, they would have choked on their drink. Sans smirked at Frisk’s shock before becoming serious, although his eye lights remained. 

 

“maybe it's a good idea if you start from the beginning.” Sans suggested. Frisk looked at Papyrus desperately for help. He simply nodded at them, and they sighed resignedly. 


	17. Support

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Frisk's past is finally revealed, and support is given.  
> Trigger warnings for Parents Fighting, Child Abuse, Death, and Murder. I believe that's all, but be careful! This chapter contains two parents fighting and mild child abuse. Also, Genocide. So there's that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Several things. First, I've been wanting to write this chapter for so long! So I'm glad that's happening! Secondly! WHEN THE HECK DID WE GET TO 700 HITS WHAT THE HECK?!?! I love you guys so much! Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> (Also... John... If you're there, you know who you are. If you don't want to have a bad time, turn back now.)

“When I was around ten, my parents began to fight. ‘Frisk did this, Frisk did that, did you see what Frisk did today?’ Always, always about me. I used to think it was something I was doing wrong. My dad always seemed to be happier when I was playing sports or doing more ‘tomboyish’ things, and my mom always seemed to enjoy watching me wearing dresses or playing with dolls. So I tried to do it all. I lost all sense of what I actually enjoyed in favor of making my parents happy.”

 

“Nothing worked. They still fought constantly, and they would get more and more mad at me no matter what I tried. After a few years, I accidentally dropped my mom’s mug when I was bringing her coffee. She slapped me in the face.”

 

“Neither one of my parents had ever hit me before. No matter what I had done, no matter how mad at me or each other they had been, they had never hit me before. I ran. I ran as far and as fast as I could. Before I knew it, I was at Mt. Ebbot.” Frisk trailed off as their voice box closed up. Closing their eyes, they took several deep breaths. Tears had been running down their face. Funny, they hadn’t felt any. Wiping their face, they took another deep breath, speaking quietly as they relived the memories.

 

Frisk curled up in their bed, silent tears streaming down their face and their breath coming in tight huffs. Their parents were fighting again.

 

“Deep breath, Frisk. In… Out. In… Out. Breathe.” They murmured to themselves, trying to calm down. “Everything will be fine. Mom and Dad love each other. They do, they love each other.” Frisk’s breathing became slightly more frantic, in and out in panicked huffs.

 

Yelling. Endless yelling and fighting and oh god why didn’t the yelling ever stop? Was this all their fault? Had they caused this? They knew that both parents had wanted a different kid. Dad wanted a son, Mom wanted a daughter. So Frisk tried to be both. Joining the softball team and wearing dresses to school every day. Playing catch with Dad and dolls with Mom. Everything they could think of, and nothing was working. No matter how hard they tried, their parents still fought.

 

“Mom, I-”

 

“SHUT UP! YOU BROKE IT! YOU USELESS **_BRAT!_ ** ” Mom screamed, lashing out. Her hand connected with Frisk’s face. Frisk took a step back out of shock and fear. Looking at the coffee mug and back at her mother. It was just a mug. It had slipped out of their hands and shattered on the floor.

 

Frisk’s hand reached up towards their face, cupping their cheek carefully. They could feel it already beginning to turn red. Their eyes stinging with tears that were more shock than pain, they took another step back. Locking eyes with their Mother’s, they turned and ran. They threw open the door and dashed wildly, running as fast and as far as they could from that cursed house. The look in their mother’s eyes swam through their mind as they ran. Regret, fear, shock, sadness, anger. Somehow, their mother managed to pull it off without a hitch.

 

Mt. Ebbot. That made sense. Nobody that climbed the mountain ever returned. Rumors were, monsters were hiding under the mountain, and they came out at night to attack anyone that dared stay on the mountain after nightfall. Good. Maybe they’d kill Frisk too. Water hit their head, and they looked up at the sky as it began to rain. Looking around, there seemed to be a cave they could shelter in. And who knows. Maybe that’s where the monsters lived, and they could get it over with.

 

Looking around the cave, they realized with regret that there were not, in fact, monsters living in the cave. In fact, it was actually an extremely small cave. Only a few feet from the entrance, a huge pit loomed. Looking down, Frisk couldn’t see the bottom. Perfect. This would kill them, right? A quick, painless death. Steeling themselves, they took a deep breath and jumped.

 

When they woke up, they were lying flat on their back on a patch of golden flowers. Another person was standing over them, seemingly concerned. "Who are you? You woke me up! I guess I was dead, though. So, thanks for that, I think. Are you alright?" The person said when they realized Frisk was awake. 

"I'm Frisk. Who are you?"

"Frisk, huh? I'm Chara." They said, extending their hand and helping to pull Frisk up.

 

Asgore swung that cursed trident again, slamming it through their body as they screamed in pain. Every goddamn time. Was there no way to escape? Could they not Spare Asgore?

 

Frisk sucked in a breath, waking back up at the star right before the barrier. “Fuck no. Not again. Not again. I… I can’t. It hurts so much, Chara. It hurts so much. He won’t let us spare him, and I don’t think we can kill him. I just… I can’t anymore.” Frisk tried as hard as they could not to cry, bringing up the menu and hitting Reset.

 

When they attacked that first Froggit, they could feel themselves getting stronger. They could feel their power growing, even as tears slipped down their face. Maybe this is how they were supposed to get home. If they got strong enough, maybe they could defeat Asgore and get out of this cursed cave. Everyone kept _attacking_ them and _hurting_ them and _everything_ hurt _all the time._ Nothing they did seemed to be worth it anymore. But they couldn’t give up. If they could just get past Asgore, they could go home. They could apologize to their mom and fix the mug. Or buy her a new one. They were getting a lot of gold coins down here.

 

Papyrus’s head rolled to a stop at their feet. Frisk was screaming, Chara was crying. Both of them knelt at the same time, collapsing in the dust of the skeleton.This poor, innocent skeleton. He had done nothing wrong, nothing to hurt them. He just wanted to help them. Show them mercy. And they slaughtered him. Slaughtered him in cold blood. They really were a demon.

 

“Frisk? Frisk? Frisk!” Chara shouted, shaking them and snapping them out of their memories. Sans and Papyrus were both sitting there in shock. Apparently Frisk had continued telling their story, even while reliving the worst times of their life.

 

“kid... i’m **_so sorry_ ** _.”_ Sans lunged forward, sweeping them up in a hug and squeezing them against his hoodie. “i... i didnt know.”

 

Frisk gave in to the hug, tears soaking into his hoodie as they screamed and sobbed as they felt that first slap, the endless bullets, the spears, the tridents, and the bones piercing their body over and over and over again. Papyrus and Chara quickly joined the hug, and everyone hugged until they all collapsed onto the floor in a pile of limbs, bones, and ghostly aether.

 

“Thank you all… so much. I… I don’t know what to say.”

 

“you don’t have to say anythin at all, kiddo. we’re all here for you.” Sans replied.  


“YES, HUMAN! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS HERE FOR YOU!” Papyrus replied, managing to keep his voice down to avoid damaging your hearing.

 

“Me too.” Chara whispered, hugging you tighter. “We’ve all got your back, Frisk.”


	18. Hiatus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Guys...

Hey guys. I'm putting this story on indefinite hiatus. I'm not in the best place at the moment, and writing a story about a depressed, suicidal non-binary pal isn't the best thing to help me out of it. Also, I feel absolutely terrible at how I've written this story so far. Instead of an actual work that I've put effort into, it's a terribly written story that I write at 2 in the morning and never even edit. I'm really sorry, guys! I'm going to work on this story when I have time and I'm feeling better, so it'll still update sporadically, but nowhere near the time it's been being posted at the moment. Thank you guys for reading.

If you guys want, fill this comment section with story prompts! I had an idea to create a basic storyplot for an Undertale fanfic and simply write it based on prompts from you guys! I'm really excited to see how this will work, so please spam the comments with any ideas you want me to use! 


	19. Games Shows and Determination!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a game show is played, a snowball fight is initiated, and some things are discovered by Sans. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, nerds! I have returned, back and better than ever! I am a horrible, terrible person for leaving you guys for so long!!!! Have a somewhat fluffy, somewhat angsty chapter in return? I have no excuses for my absence other than an extreme lack of motivation, feel free to scream at me in the comments! I'm sorryyyyy ;-;

Frisk curled up on the couch between Sans and Papyrus, Chara sitting in their lap. The family of four were all tuned into Mettaton’s show, taking a day to simply relax and take care of Frisk. After the story they had shared yesterday, it seemed well deserved. This episode was a quiz show, where the viewers called in and answered the questions live. It was actually a really good idea, but Frisk was perfectly happy not being part of the show for once. Then again, the game show had never happened when they killed everyone.

 

“Frisk, Frisk, you know this one! Call in with the answer!” Chara said, bouncing on Frisk’s lap. “It’ll be fun!” 

 

“I’m good…” Frisk said, glaring at the ghost. 

 

“HUMAN, THAT’S A GREAT IDEA! YOU SHOULD CALL IN!” Papyrus exclaimed. 

 

Frisk sighed, looking at the TV and reading the question. “ **What is Mew Mew’s favorite ice cream flavor?** Well, too bad. I don’t know the answer, and even if I did, Chara is sitting on me, so I can’t reach my phone. Oh well.” 

 

“Well duh, it’s Snail Flavor. Someone give Frisk the phone so they can call in.” Chara turned to Sans, who snapped his fingers and summoned his cell phone. 

 

“here ya go, kiddo.”

 

“Chara, I just want you to know I hate you.” Frisk sighed, dialing in the number at the bottom of the screen. To their surprise, they were the first to call in. 

 

Alphys picked up the phone. “H-hi there, caller! Do you think you know the answer? If you get it right, you earn a special d-date with Mettaton!”

 

“The answer is Snail Flavor. And, um, can I skip on that date? My friends made me call in because they’re  _ jerks _ , and I’m far too shy to hang out with Mettaton.” Frisk said with a glare at said ‘friends’.

 

“That is c-correct! And, um, I’m sorry, but you sort of have to accept the prize? We’ll call you back with the details l-later!” The phone clicked, and Frisk groaned.

 

“So… odds that Mettaton knows what a human looks like?” They asked, feeling a pit begin to grow in their stomach. “Because I am  _ so  _ not ready to have him try to kill me.”

 

“i’d say he probably knows. dont worry, kiddo. we’ll be there to protect you.”

 

“YES, HUMAN! WE WILL KEEP YOU SAFE! ALTHOUGH, I DO NOT BELIEVE METTATON WILL TRY TO KILL YOU, ESPECIALLY ON A DATE! THAT’S JUST BAD MANNERS!”

 

“You’d be surprised. He  _ really  _ wants to be famous up on the surface.” Chara sighed. “Sorry I made you call in, Frisk. But don’t worry, ok? We won’t let him hurt you.”

 

“Hmm… you guys totally owe me chocolate for this.” Frisk laughed, trying to quell the anxiety building up. Sadly, Chara was connected to them, and therefore felt it.

 

“That narcissistic robot is  _ not  _ going to ruin my nice day at home!” Chara burst out, floating into the air and throwing their arms out wide. “You know what? We’re having a snowball fight!”

 

“Noooo!” Frisk and Sans groaned in unison. Chara and Papyrus cackled evilly, standing up and preparing to drag their respective kin outside. 

 

“Come on, nerd! It’ll be fun!” Chara practically dragged Frisk off of the couch and towards the door. “Sans, can they borrow one of your hoodies?” Frisk was wearing a plain white t-shirt and black sweatpants from Sans, and that was simply not going to cut it out in the snow.

 

“Course.” He snapped his fingers, and a large purple hoodie appeared in front of them. 

 

“Oooh! Pretty!” Frisk reached out in awe, grabbing it and pulling it on. It was extremely baggy on them, and they pulled the hood on in glee, turtling into the hoodie. The inside was filled with soft fur, and they giggled as they ran their fingers across the fabric.

 

“heh, you can keep it, kiddo.” Sans laughed as Frisk turned to him with starry eyes.

 

“Really?”

 

“sure, why not. i never wear it anyways.”

 

“Come onnn, let’s goo~” Chara whined, tugging at Frisk’s hand. “Papyrus and I have to destroy you!” 

 

“Whoah, what? You can’t be serious. Chara, I thought we were friends! How could you betray me like this?!” Frisk placed their hand to their forehead in mock dismay, sniffing and pretending to wipe away a tear as they walked out the door into the snow.

 

“Sorry Frisk, but I must win! And my greatest chance of victory is with Papyrus!” Chara floated after them, the two bickering as the skeletons slowly followed. 

 

“they grow up so fast, don’t they, paps?” Sans sighed, smiling at the two humans as they ran around in the snow, Frisk forgetting that snowballs simply flew straight through the ghost.

 

“HUMAN, WAIT! TAKE THIS SCARF AS WELL!” Papyrus wrapped a scarf around Frisk’s neck, a royal blue that complemented the purple of their hoodie perfectly.

 

“Thanks, Papyrus! But you’ve forgotten one thing! I am your enemy!” They jumped forward, smashing a handful of snow into Papyrus’ face before darting away to hide behind Sans. 

 

“OHOHO! HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO EASILY TRICKED? I SHALL ENACT REVENGE, HUMAN!” Papyrus scooped up a huge boulder of snow, rushing towards his brother and Frisk. Sans refused to move, and the two were quickly crushed under a mountain of snow. Frisk popped their head up, sputtering and coughing. Sans took a minute to dig himself out, too busy laughing at his brother. 

 

“NOW YOU SHALL THINK BETTER OF CHALLENGING THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” Papyrus posed, smiling, before scooping Frisk out of the snow and setting them back on the ground. They laughed, turning around and chasing Chara with a  **determined** glint in their eyes.

 

Sans snapped his fingers, transforming the snow drift underneath him into a comfy slab which he reclined on. Papyrus sat on the snow next to him, watching Chara mock Frisk from in the air as they attempted to throw snow at her. Unfortunately, the snow simply phased right through the ghost, falling back and hitting Frisk in the face. They shook their head, snow flying out of their hair, and they grinned. “I will get you some day!” They promised, scooping up another handful of snow.

 

“What was the human like before? Before everything you said happened?” Papyrus’ voice was subdued, and it was obvious he had been thinking of this for awhile. “Were they always evil? Or was there a time when they were better?”

 

“paps…”

 

“I want to know, Sans. You cannot keep carrying this burden on your own.”

 

“i thought they were different, in the beginning. they walked out of the ruins, a stick in their hand and a grin on their face, offering their friendship to any monster that came their way. even after getting attacked, getting  _ killed _ , they kept that grin on their face. they got all the way through the underground, all the way to Asgore. time kept stuttering when they were in there, for what seemed like an eternity. 

 

“after one of those stutters, i heard a scream and rushed in. the kid was just standing there in the hallway, screaming bloody murder. before i could even take a step towards them, they had RESET and I was sent back to my bed. after that, they were… different. stronger. they had gathered LOVE. they walked through the underground, a strangely blank look on their face as they slaughtered everyone. i assumed that the kid i knew was gone, because Frisk would never do anything like that.

 

“i began calling this new anomaly a ‘Demon’, because that’s what they acted like. i should have helped, ya know? i saw them, in the beginning, but i never tried to talk to them. never tried to stop them. all because of a stupid promise to the lady behind the door.”

 

“Sans, I’m  _ sorry _ . You never should have had to bear that burden alone.” Papyrus scooped his brother up into a hug. Sans responded by curling into his chest, his smile small and  _ real _ .

 

“s’ ok, paps. you didn’t know.” Before Papyrus could reply, a shriek of fury rang out from the yard. Frisk shouted in victory, throwing their hands in the air.

 

“I DID IT!” They yelled gleefully, standing up and dancing around in the yard, waving their hands around. Chara was lying on the ground, disheveled from where Frisk had just been sitting on her. She slowly wiped snow off of her face, shaking it out of her hair and looking at it like it had betrayed her.

 

“Just… how?” She asked in confusion.

 

“DETERMINATION!” Frisk yelled, running back over to help her up. In a flash of red, a small snowball floated up from the ground and smacked Frisk in the face. 

 

“Determination works both ways, my human friend!” Chara cackled evilly as Frisk wiped snow out of their eyes. 

 

“Fair enough.” Frisk smiled, holding out their hand. “Truce?”

 

“Truce.” Chara shook Frisk’s hand and smiled back. The two walked back towards the door where the two skeletons sat, still holding hands. Sans and Papyrus shared a knowing look before dragging the humans inside for a shower and hot chocolate. The drama of Mettaton had been forgotten, and Frisk felt a strange feeling well up inside them. The feeling of warmth, of happiness, of having a true family, it filled them with **love**.

 

Game… saved?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... here ya go? Heh...
> 
> Again, I'm sorry I was gone for so long!
> 
> Comments feed the evil author, so please feel free to yell at me for my hiatus!


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